- ပေလာင္ အေၾကာင္း တစ္ေစ့တစ္ေစာင္း
Introduction
Palaung people are mainly based in the Shan and Kachin States in Eastern Myanmar.
The Palaung are one of Myanmar’s oldest indigenous peoples and are divided into three main sub-groups:
The Pale, also known as Silver Palaung.
Many of them fled Myanmar under the oppression of the military regime and took refuge into northern Thailand.
The Shwe, also known as Golden Palaung.
The Rumai.
Among themselves, Palaungs distinguish a further twelve different sub-groups.
It is estimated that one million Palaungs still live in Myanmar.
Palaung history
In the nineteenth century, the British colonial rule recognized the Palaung-controlled kingdom of Tawnpeng, and the Palaung enjoyed far more freedom and power in terms of land ownership and political influence in then Burma than of recent.
The Palaung armed themselves against the military junta in 1963 with the creation of the Palaung State Liberation Army (PSLA), the military arm of the political liberation movement, to demand more autonomy.
In 1991, under intense pressure from the military regime and its brutal methods, and with a growing number of other ethnic opposition groups rendering arms, the SPLA signed a ceasefire with the SLORC [1].
As a result, some diverging Palaung factions formed the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) in 1992 to continue their armed opposition and demand self-determination, democracy and human rights for Palaung people.
They are cooperating with the pro-democracy movement of Aung San Suu Kyi and other ethnic opposition groups to secure peace talks with the junta.
However, the majority of Palaungs laid down arms. Although many of those living around Namsan, Mantong areas live in peace, some other areas do not protect this minority from relocation, forced labour and other human rights’ abuse.
Over the last twenty-four years, several thousands Palaungs fled central and southern Shan state to escape fighting and forced recruitment and took refuge into Thailand.
Palaung language and culture
The Palaung language is part of the Mon-Khmer branch of the Austro-Asiatic language group.
To mention a single language is to shortcut the number of dialects spoken among the different Palaung factions: ethnologists count no less than fifteen different Palaung dialects in Myanmar!
Pankan: a Palaung village
We learnt a lot about daily life in a Palaung village in our repeated visits to the village of Pankan in the Shan state, Eastern Myanmar.
Pankan is a peaceful Silver Palaung village counting fifty houses built on stilts, sheltered in the higher altitudes, on mountain slopes, of the northwestern Shan state.
When arriving at the village gates, the flag of the Palaung ‘nation’ greets visitors.
Its three colours are blue, yellow and green.
Blue stands for the sky as Palaung live close to the sky, high in the mountains.
Yellow represents the Sun, which Palaung consider to be their original father [their mother ancestor is a dragon].
Green stands for tea, which is like green gold for Palaung. It is their main income resource and tea plantations surround Palaung villages. As a result, Palaungs are famed for their high-quality tea.
The village houses
Palaung houses are traditionally made of wood (foundations), bamboo (house structure, walls and floor), and thatch (roofing).
Because of the village location at higher altitudes, roofing must be changed every two to three years to preserve its protective quality. Bamboo-plaited walls also have a limited usage span and must be replaced every five to ten years depending on weather conditions.
As a result, Palaung villagers are increasingly adopting corrugated iron for their roofs. Bricks also start making an appearance. However, most Palaung cannot afford such materials.
When a house must be built or re-built, or other sizeable work needs taken care of, everybody in the village gives a hand: the spirit of community and solidarity is one of the strong assets of village life.
Houses are usually built on posts. The uphill side of the house is where the family works and lives, whereas the downhill side, sheltered from the outside, is an area of rest and sleep.
The horses, pigs and other domesticated animals can take shelter under the elevated house flooring.
The fireplace lies at the centre of the main section of the house on a concrete or other hard material square topped by shelves.
Herbs and other condiments are kept on top of the shelves. Shelves also have the use of collecting soot, which is used in concoction as a remedy for stomachache!
In the past, houses were more like longhouses and accommodated extended families of up to fifty people.
Nowadays, a typical house shelters fewer people and young married Palaung leave the family nest when the woman is about to give birth.
The headman
Every Palaung village has a headman who is responsible for taking decisions for the village and ruling disputes.
Villagers are highly respectful of the authority of the headman. He is usually selected by the elders and is always a popular figure in the village.
Every day, after the day’s work (villagers usually work between 7 am to 4/5 pm), the headman stands in front of his house. He holds a circular wooden instrument with a hole in the middle, which he hits in its centre. The sound echoes throughout the village.
It is actually a signal that the headman is ready to discuss any village matters with villagers, and anyone is free to come and talk to him. A very simple but ingenious system!
Rhythm of the village
Palaung people are hard workers. Both men and women take equal part in outdoor work.
They live mainly from tea plantations and the luxurious forests around their villages. They collect wood for cooking and heating, leaves for cooking, etc.
They also work in groups to maintain the area around the village and counter the damage of the rainy season on muddy roads and mountain slopes.
Many Palaung villages do not have electricity or only limited supply. As a result, villagers make the most of natural daylight by waking up early (as early as 4 am).
The Palaung follow the moon calendars for festivals and days of rest.
Typically, villagers rest on the days of the new and full moon (twice a month). Young men take the opportunity to indulge in drinking, playing cards and chat with their friends.
It is also a moment to pray
and make offerings at the temple.
Palaung religion
Palaung’s native religion is animism.
They believe that spirits –also called Nats- may inhabit all inanimate things, such as rocks, mountains and rivers, and as a result pay great respect to nature.
Offerings are made on various ceremonial
occasions or to appease the spirits, when someone falls mysteriously ill or the harvest has been poor.
Palaungs also revere the spirits of their ancestors.
Nowadays, most Palaung are Theravada Buddhists and every village of a reasonable size has its own monastery.
It is indeed tradition for one of the sons in the family to spend some time to serve Buddha by becoming a novice monk for a couple of years.
Palaung dress
Palaung women
The Shwe and the Pale’s common names, respectively Golden Palaung and Silver Palaung, refer directly to their slight differences in dress.
Palaung women tie their hair in a bun under a small cap, and cover tin in a towel or turban. They are beautifully clothed with above-the waist long-sleeved colourful top open in the front, and a skirt called “longyji”, tied up like a sarong. The most distinctive feature of their dress is the heavy belt around their waists.
According to Palaung legend, the original mother of Palaungs was a Dragon.
The belt and colours of the Palaung dress are actually aimed at giving women the appearance of a dragon.
On a daily basis, the belt is made out of black and white plastic rings but on special occasions, women will wear their silver or gold belts (according to their affiliation to either the Pale or Shwe sub-groups).
Palaung women are gifted weavers and when walking around a Palaung village, women bent over their weaving machines or installations are a common sight.
They often carry a colourful shoulder bag, which they weave themselves, adorned with cotton teasels.
Palaung men
On special occasions, men wear a Mao-style long-sleeved cotton jacket with cotton Shan-style trousers and adorn their heads with a turban.
They are also often seen carrying a Shan-style shoulder bag.
Palaung men used to tattoo their bodies from neck to toe (literally!) as a show of bravery.
Although young men still adorn their arms and legs with tattoos, the all-over-body-tattooed tradition is somehow lost and only elder men will display them.
- History of Palaung (1931)
- Orientation
- Identification. While the name "Palaung" is Burmese in origin, the Palaungs call themselves "Ta-ang," along with several dialectal variants of that name. They are known as "Palong" as well as "Kunloi" (mountaineer) by the Shans. The name "Rumai" or "Humai" is occasionally applied to all Palaungs but actually refers specifically to one of their subgroups.
Rumai, Humai ,Kunloi ,Dang,Ta-ang
Language family: Austroasiatic
Language branch: Mon-Khmer
- Location. The Palaungs are found in the Shan States of east central Myanmar (Burma) with the majority found in Taungpeng State (approximately 23° N and 97° E). They are also in the adjacent states of Hsipaw, North and South Hsenwi, Möngmit, and as far south as the Shan State of Kengtung. Palaungs are also reported in the southern part of Kachin State and in southwestern Yunnan, China. They occupy a region of ridges up to 2,000 meters, separated by narrow valleys. In addition to cultivated lands, there is some open grassland, but the upper elevations are mostly temperate forest. The climate is typical continental Southeast Asian monsoon, with rainy summers and dry winters.
- Demography. While there is no available population estimate for Palaungs in Myanmar today, in 1931 the total Palaung population was estimated at 140,000.
- Linguistic Affiliation. The precise linguistic classification of Palaung has not yet been determined; it is however agreed that the various dialects of the Palaung language belong to the Mon-Khmer Group in the Austroasiatic Family. In the literature the Palaung are often associated with the Wa, another northern upland Mon-Khmer group, and they may appear cited as a single group, the Palaung-Wa. There appears to be no close affiliation between them, however, and it is reported that the two groups do not recognize any affiliation.
- History and Cultural Ralations
- The Palaungs probably preceded Shan and Kachin settlement of the east central and northeast region of Myanmar. During the nineteenth century Taungpeng, the political focus of the Palaungs, was marginal to the neighboring Shan principalities and its relationship to the Burmese state was even more marginal. Although there were tributary relations and trade with the Burmese, the greatest cultural influence on the Palaungs appears to have been that of the Shans. Although there are Burmese loanwords in Palaung, the Shan language is both the written language of the Palaung and the lingua franca not only between Palaungs and Shans, Kachins, and other neighbors, but also between Palaung dialect groups.
